The enormous Giant Crab Spider is an ambush predator usually found hanging out on walls, waiting for insect prey to pounce on.

The Giant Crab Spider is also known as the Golden Huntsman Spider. This is one of the largest spiders in North America with its body fitting in the palm of the hand - not including the legs. Legs and the cephalothorax are sandy brown and covered in short hairs. The tips of the legs (feet) are darker. The abdomen is round and slightly smaller than the cephalothorax. A narrow, dark stripe runs down the center of the abdomen and ends in a point.

Giant Crab Spiders are ambush predators, lying in wait on vertical surfaces for anything smaller than itself. Despite their large size and presumed heft, they are incredibly quick. Lightening fast speed and the ability to jump allows them to successfully capture prey, and it also makes them difficult to catch. They have been seen on tree trunks, shrubs, boulders, walls, and other objects that lend height and have a textured surface to hold onto. The sides of houses covered in stucco or wood are not uncommon places to find them, and unfortunately they sometimes wander inside homes, freaking out most human inhabitants. They are most comfortable in arid, desert regions, however, and generally prefer to be outdoors.

Adults are most active and likely to be seen in the hot summer months. Females are larger than males. They spin silken egg sacs that they fill with fertilized eggs, and then guard the eggs until the spiderlings hatch a month or so later.

Legs: Spiders have four pairs of legs and these are attached to the cephalothorax.

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Pedipalps: Small appendages near the mouth used as taste and smell organs.

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Cephalothorax: Contains eyes, head, mouthparts, and legs.

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Abdomen: Contains various organs related to digestion, reproduction, and web-making.

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Spinnerets: Used in the production of spider silk for fashioning webs or catching prey.

NOTE: Unlike insects, spiders have both an endoskeleton (internal) and exoskeleton (external).

Territorial Reach (A-to-Z)

Note: An insect's reach is not limited by lines drawn on a map and therefore species may appear in areas, regions and/or states beyond those listed below as they are driven by environmental factors (such as climate change), available food supplies and mating patterns. Grayed-out selections below indicate that the subject in question has not been reported in that particular territory. U.S. states and Canadian provinces / territories are clickable to their respective bug listings.

The map below showcases (in red) the states and territories of North America where the Giant Crab Spider may be found (but is not limited to). This sort of data can be useful in seeing concentrations of a particular species over the continent as well as revealing possible migratory patterns over a species' given lifespan. Some species are naturally confined by environment, weather, mating habits, food resources and the like while others see widespread expansion across most, or all, of North America.